Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday vowed to bring the perpetrators behind the killing of Kashmiri Pandit bank guard Sanjay Sharma to book and termed the incident “unfortunate”.
Terrorists on Sunday shot dead the 40-year-old Sharma in Pulwama district while he was on his way to a local market.
“It is an extremely unfortunate incident. No words are enough to condemn the killing. Whoever has carried out the act, our security forces will take care of them,” Sinha told reporters here.
He said while such incidents can create doubts in the minds of the people about the security scenario, the administration and security forces were working “with a 360 degree approach”.
“The situation today is much better but we are working towards making it a model situation,” he added.
Meanwhile, a day after he was shot dead, Kashmiri Hindu bank guard Sanjay Sharma was cremated in his native village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, with his Muslim neighbours lending a helping hand to his grief-stricken family.
Sharma was shot dead by terrorists on Sunday morning barely 100 metres from his home in Achan in Pulwama when he was on his way to the local market. He was rushed to a hospital by passersby but he succumbed to the injuries.
The mortal remains of Sharma, 40, were consigned to the flames as per Hindu rituals amidst the presence of his family members and neighbours, including Muslims, officials said.
The Muslim neighbours helped his family members in performing the last rites.
Sharma’s family is the only Pandit family living in the village, and today his friends and neighbors from the Muslim community took it upon themselves to help perform his last rites. They shouldered his casket and arranged wood for his cremation.
“He was one of us. We never thought of him as a Pandit,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a local resident.
He said they have lived alongside each other and done everything together. “We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard this sad news, all of us rushed to share the grief of the family,” he added.
“We condemn the murder. We stand by the bereaved family. As soon as the news of the incident broke yesterday, people were ready to provide all help — blood, money or anything else — to save him. Unfortunately, he succumbed on the way (to hospital),” said a local resident, Bashir Ahmad Malik.
He said the killing was a setback for the Hindu-Muslim harmony in the village which has existed since centuries.
“This is not the murder of one individual, this is the murder of humanity. The people of this area are as bereaved as the family of the victim,” Malik said.
Sharma’s relatives also said that Muslims of the village have always helped them in times of need.
“They (Muslims) sit at a distance when a religious ritual has to be done by a Pandit, but rest of the arrangements were made by them,” they said.
Sharma became the first victim of targeted killings by terrorists this year. Last year, they shot dead 18 people, including three Kashmiri Pandits, a bank manager from Rajasthan and eight non-local workers, in 29 attacks in the Valley.
Meanwhile, the BJP held protests at several places in Kashmir against the killing.
The main protest was held in the Jawahar Nagar area of the city where dozens of BJP workers demonstrated against the killing.
“Our Kashmiri Pandit brother was brutally killed in Pulwama. Terrorists have tried to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere established in the past three years under a well-thought-out conspiracy. We won’t allow it to happen,” said Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, head of the BJP’s Media and IT cell.
The protesters also burnt an effigy of Pakistan, holding the neighbouring country responsible for the killings.
“The BJP is protesting against Pakistan across the Valley today. We appeal to the LG administration to ensure security of minorities and take steps so that such incidents do not recur,” Bhat added.
Protests were also held in Kulgam on Monday and a candlelight vigil was organised against Sharma’s killing in Pulwama and Baramulla on Sunday night. (With inputs from PTI)
